The Vine Garden
by chrysanne
Summary: Also known as Auroschasprasia. A series of Vignettes set before, during, and after my Black Hand stories. Will be jumping all over the place, from many points of view. Current story: Mala.
1. Day of Days

_Day of Days_

Timeframe: Post-TGOF, pre-TVOS

A fair wind brushed by her face, teasing her long hair with its warm embrace. It smelled faintly of sweet grass, a favorite scent, one that was so very different from the sharp tang of the trees that flourished on her former world. She liked Naboo, with its beautiful artistry mixed with pragmatic usefulness, where there were literally thousands of open fields and meadows to explore, with no abnormally large or wide trunks made from micro-sized particles of cellulose to haunt her with memories. She liked the clean, clear-running streams that populated the planet where she had lived for the past twelve months; it wasn't often that she couldn't be found sitting by a pool or stream of clean water, usually inhabited by amphibious creatures and delicately grown flora. Such infestation of her quarters as can only be done by that evil Villain of Plantlife, the climbing ivy upon the outer walls were a source of constant struggle between her and the gardener in charge of the maintenance of her home.

Smiling softly, she pulled up a blade of grass with her toes, taking care to preserve the clump of wildflowers nearby. They were blue, their petals soft and warm with the sunlight coming to embrace them from the Nubian Sun. She loved it here, where there no memories of her family, adoptive or otherwise. Her smile broke as without warning, _he_ intruded on her thoughts. Against her will, she thought of how much he might've liked Naboo, too, if given the chance to truly see it. Instead of being destroyed by a weapon of ancient malice. A gasp gurgled up from her throat and her hands clenched at her sides.

What was wrong with her? Just a moment ago she was happily wasting away what free time she had by relaxing in her garden, then suddenly this? Him? Why now? But it was useless to question...she already knew the answer. Today was that day all over again, the day his place in her heart was ripped away so violently and she was tempted with the Nothing. For that's what it had been: Nothing; the opposite of Everything, the Force. The Jedi were taught that all life was built with the help of midi-chlorians, that it was sustained by their existence. And it was true. She had enough of her mother to realize that; it was what wasn't taught that had nearly destroyed her that night a year before. Twirling the blade of grass between the tips of her fingers, she rose from her place on the lawn and walked in the direction of the fountain. There she placed her hands on the edges of the stone basin, and stared at her reflection.

There must always be a balance. That was the way of the Jedi, the teaching of the Goddess Temple...her father had believed that, as had her mentor. Her mother, she realized with a sudden pang, had been the result of what would happen if there was no balance. _What is given must be given back._ An old saying from Dysis, it was almost ironic how well it applied to her mother in this case. Was it so strange to be thinking of her now, instead of him? But she was, in a way. From a certain point of view. Her father had given Mala his pain and doubt, but Mala had refused to give him hers. She had loved him with all her heart and soul, had traded a part of her Essence to be with him, despite the machinations of Fate. Their daughter had once blamed him for Mala's death, but as she grew and was mentored by the Priestess of the Goddess Temple, as the memories that had been unwittingly given to her by her parents, she had come to see that Mala's death was not her father's doing. The fate that followed, the deaths of Mala's sisters, was not his doing. _It was what had to be_, the Priestess had said so many years before, when Alia-known-as-Cadis had run to her for protection from those bullying her, asking why Matis had ever brought her to this horrible, horrible place.

Shivers dancing along her spine as she stared into the water, she recalled what else the old woman had said to her frightened child-self. _The paths of all are shrouded in mist, but the paths of few are as entangled in darkness and light as yours. You are meant to be where you are, Cadis, for good or for ill; there is no escape._

A brush of wind touched her then, bringing again its sweet scent. As she breathed in deeply, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder, and she whipped her head around in startlement. Nothing. A shaky chuckle escaped the confines of her throat, and her brooding thoughts suddenly vanished.

What was the point of dwelling on the past now, of all times? Tucking a strand of wind-tossed hair behind an ear, she turned to go into the house, her thoughts coming to rest upon a certain Jedi Knight and his Padawan, wondering what they were doing on this day of days.

Her thoughts preoccupied, she didn't notice the subtle change in energy as she left the garden, heading up the path toward the house. A shape appeared, its form tall and male, outlined in blue. A wistful expression appeared in his eyes, followed by a slight, rumbling chuckle as he felt a breeze kiss the grass at his feet.

"I know, I know," he said, looking again toward the house, "I cannot interfere. But that does not mean I cannot wish to."

His eyes grew soft as his voice lowered.

"We will be looking after her, won't we?" he asked, and it warmed him to feel the response. He whispered, "I was not able to protect her when I was alive, but I have the power now."

A shining light appeared at his side, fading in brilliance until a woman as tall as he stood by him, her eyes strange and vivid, both innocent and yet so wise. Almost unconsciously his arm slipped around her waist as they stood in silence. After a moment he turned to her, and she caressed his cheek. Closing his eyes he brought her close and breathed in that warm, familiar scent that belonged to her and no other. In the fading light the two ghosts glowed with the light of the setting sun, when they suddenly looked into the eyes of the other, and each smiled. Taking his hand, Mala led him toward the direction of the ceremony.

They flew over the housetops of Theed, their passage soundless as they rode the sweet-smelling wind that carried them toward the southern portion of the city. There, before the entrance to the Palace, lay the statue that was built in commemoration of the sacrifices made during the Battle of Naboo. And it was there that Queen Amidala, devoid of face paint, made a moving speech about the cost of war, about the price of greed, and how the memory of those who gave so much would remain forever in the hearts of all Naboo, be they human or Gungan. And it was there that the ghosts, unseen by the living, were set down behind their daughter, whose brilliant, unnaturally blue eyes were bright with unshed tears, and whose task it was to light the soon-to-be-custom ceremonial fire.

Even though the hand clenched inside her pocket was shaking, the one holding the firebrand was not. When the memories of her last such ceremonial fire threatened to swamp her control, Qui-Gon laid a hand on her shoulder, and she was calmed by the unknown source of gentle comfort. With his hand steadying her, she was able to make it through the rest of the ceremony without embarrassment. At last, he withdrew his hand, and with it her source of comfort, and his daughter unconsciously sought that feeling of protection. When he looked up, however, Qui-Gon was hard-pressed to follow the rules. Only Mala's grip on his translucent tunic kept him from succumbing to temptation of using his power to warn her.

"Lady Alia," said a voice off to her left. She turned to look, and smiled at the man coming toward her.

"Chancellor Palpatine," she said warmly in reply.

End


	2. Mala

**Auroschasprasia** - The Vine Garden - _Mala_

Timeline: Pre-TGOF 

Disclaimer: The characters and anything else you might recognize. I do, however, own the _Cirada_, Captain Boli, the Caelan S'hint, and Mala. I am also making no money from this, so don't sue me!

/_ Text. _/ denotes mental thought.

_**Text.**_ denotes Mindspeech.

* * *

The floor beneath Qui-Gon shuddered, the supports of his quarters groaning in protest as he clutched at a pole for balance. Brown hair swinging across his eyes, another vibration caused him to pitch forward out into the main passage of their vessel, sending him crashing violently into the floor. He groaned slightly, pushing himself away from the metallic plates that had so suddenly been introduced to his head.

"Master?"

He had not noticed another person fall into the corridor, and winced slightly as he looked up at his apprentice.

"I am fine, Padawan," he said, sensing the young man's concern and placing a comforting hand upon his shoulder, continuing, "But something tells me all is not well in the cockpit."

His Padawan grinned slightly as he helped his master to his feet.

"What do you suppose has happened, Master?"

Qui-Gon smiled to himself, saying, "That is what we must discover, Xanatos."

Together, they made their way through the ship's main corridor to the cockpit, where the pilot and her second were frantically entering calculations into the ship's datacomputer. The copilot, a Caelan named S'hint, looked up at their approach, but Captain Boli spoke without glancing from her datascreen:

"I'm bringing us out of hyperspace but the coordinates aren't matching up; we're nowhere near on course to Jabiim anymore."

Flipping a switch to deactivate the hyperdrive, they felt the slight deceleration usual to a departure from hypertravel. As the stars streaked back into alignment, the older Jedi was startled to see a band of purple gas stretching as far as the eye could see in the vastness of space. He was filled with a sense of almost childlike wonder at the unbroken band of light. Stretching as a haze of purples as dark as blue violet and reds as deep as scarlet and wine, the tangles of sparkling lavender and black seemed frozen together forever. And beyond the glass of the compartment, a dark planet loomed before them, its gigantic mass filling the cockpit window.

"What star-home is this?" breathed the Caelan in his native language.

Instead of answering him, Captain Boli turned to the ship's computer, pulling up their current position on the internal starmap.

"Impossible," she murmured in disbelief.

"What is the problem, Captain?" asked Qui-Gon, his hands in his robes as he stood behind the pilots, his eyes on the world beyond the glass.

The planet was massive, streaked with shades of red, orange, black, and brown; its apparent moons were much smaller in comparison, and appeared to be of colors ranging from gray to ice-blue.

"We-we seem to be in the Extrictarium Nebula, Master Jedi," Captain Boli replied finally, her eyes wide as she stared at the planet.

"That would explain why this planet does not orbit a celestial body…why this system does not revolve around a star," said S'hint in his naturally reedy voice, his species' natural eloquence making its way into his Basic speech.

"What planet is that, Captain?" asked Xanatos, his curiosity edging a path into his voice.

"If this is the Extrictarium, then that, Master Jedi, is Iego, and those," she indicated with a wave of her hand, "Would be angels."

Both of the pilots seemed to be in awe of the tiny specks of light flying haphazardly around the moons orbiting the planet, and a glance at his Padawan told him that Xanatos was under their strange spell as well. Qui-Gon opened his mind gently to the universe around them, careful not to disrupt the vacuum of space. The benevolence he had felt radiating from the flying beings suddenly changed, as if they had felt an intruder in the Force around them, and one of the beings seemed to break away from a moon, its path swooping in graceful arcs and dives as it swept by the _Cirada_ and its inhabitants.

As it made a pass across the cockpit window, the older Jedi was able to glimpse what appeared to be six, massive blade-shaped wings sprouting from a body of pale, nearly white light. From somewhere deep inside him, he could feel a soft yet insistent call begin to thrum in time with his heart, its rhythmic beat pulsating.

A breath of wind seemed to move through the compartment, though such a movement of air was impossible on a ship in the vacuum of space. The being outside the ship's exterior stopped suddenly, suspended just beyond the plexiglas; despite all his training and his experience, even Qui-Gon was held captive for a moment. Another draft of air brushed by him, ruffling his hair, as the angel passed through the hull and onto the ship.

It appeared to be a tall being, standing two meters at least, and on closer inspection he could see its glowing white body was tinged with a pale yellow aura, seeming to breathe a benevolent sort of curiosity to those within the ship. Its features were indistinguishable, the brightness of its radiating light obscuring any attempt to see its face, and yet, from what he could remember from the Archive databanks, angels were said to be humanoid creatures, having a female form.

All at once, another breath of wind passed through the ship, and Qui-Gon found himself inhaling its sudden tang, tasting the exotic spice as it circulated throughout his body. The thrumming of his heart grew louder and louder, until at last his breath came in large gasps as his body struggled to sustain its pace; the being looked at him, gazing into his eyes as the world seemed to spin.

The most beautiful sound he had ever heard began slowly, building up to a climax that left him crying inside for more. It was as if a drop of warm sunlight had been placed within his belly, and with each crescendo, with each rise and fall of the warm, liquid note, his knees grew weak with a desire he had no idea how to fulfill.

Its voice filled the air, stretching higher and higher, filling the space around him, saturating his very being with the song; he felt the years strip from him, felt his heavy shoulders lifting. An indescribable beat of peace began in his heart, singing through his blood, warmth and love filling every pore. Everything around him began to darken, leaving only a bright golden light that seemed to pass over everything, leaving only him and the being.

Glowing swirls of color were gradually forming, dancing, leaving trails of golden beads as bright as stars. The bright blues, reds, yellows, purples, oranges, and greens, all danced and swirled before his eyes as the heavenly being came toward him. Suddenly the golden light began to burn, the colors became too bright, swirling faster and faster until his eyes could no longer look upon the bright being before him, his heart pounding in time with the rapid beat of the song. In the midst of his pain, it seemed in his mind that he could almost see the being before him, despite the light, in her human form.

Clothed in white amidst the gold, her feet were bare, her hair as bright as stars, and she looked at him with a strange, consuming emotion in her unnatural blue eyes. After what seemed an eternity, a delicate hand stretched out to cup his cheek. The ship around them appeared to dissolve, his travel companions to disappear, and yet everything felt right…felt as if all was as it should be.

He could hear the sound of water laughing across rocks as trees sprouted at his feet, a glade of such stillness causing a tranquil peace to settle quietly over his heart. At her touch, a rush of fire had spread through him, but it was gentle and calming. She stepped toward him, wrapping her arms around him, and drew him to her. At the touch of her lips, sparks of color flew between them, and he could no longer feel the fear that had been growing.

He had never been kissed before; physical intimacy was forbidden to a Jedi of the Order, their training focused on closing their minds to the desires of their bodies. His eyes closing, the touch of her lips to his own was soft, soothing his pain, its gentle balm traveling through his teeth, his tongue, throughout his mouth, to his very blood, and wherever the blood flowed, her gentle kiss touched and soothed away the painful burning. Then suddenly, as his lips blew out a breath, he felt something cool pass through them.

Opening his grey-blue eyes, he was startled to see a color-changing mist streaming from him, until at last a tiny ball of white light left him. All at once, he was overcome with an emptiness so great he felt he would fold in upon himself, suddenly desperate to fill the void…the hole left behind; his fear returned tenfold, and his eyes began to dart frantically to the swirls of color and light around them as he stepped back from her, in his heart realizing with growing horror that the sphere of light was his soul.

With a sudden jolt from the gathering fear, he watched his spirit turn intermittently gold, such as that of the being. He realized his spirit was mixing with another, one of such pure gold and light that it hurt to look at it for more then a few seconds. Once more the song filled him, driving away his fear and the growing emptiness. As he gazed upon them, the spirits swirled together, melding and separating in a continuous cycle, fascinating him now that the overwhelming, desperate horror was gone. A glow of warmth suddenly came over him, and he knew, somehow, that the being had smiled with pleasure. Looking at her again, he realized with something akin to awe that the golden spirit was hers.

Smiling to him, she raised her humanoid hands and moved them slowly apart, separating the glowing mists, taking a piece of his, and exchanging it for a piece of her own. A shock sped throughout his body, his nervous system shuddering beneath the onslaught of new sensations roaring through his veins, setting fires in his blood. Opening his mouth in a silent scream, he fell, through an eternal, golden, star-studded space, until at last his head hit the metallic floor of the _Cirada_.

"Mala…"

His last coherent thought, as he began to lose consciousness, was of the beauty in her unnatural blue eyes.

* * *

** From the Author - -**

"Need a backstory? Go to the official SW-site. Can't link it here, but there you'll find more info on Angels, the Extricatrium, and Xanatos."

"I **will** update TGOF soon."


End file.
